Within the past twenty years, the use of technology in school has become a crucial part of classroom procedures. From using a computer for assignments, to a camera for journalism, incorporating technology into education has amplified student learning. Electronics allow teachers to educate students of all ages on how to use technology in and out of the classroom.
Emerging Technology, a class that was introduced to Hays High School six years ago, but since then it has expanded in the amount of technology the students learn to use. This class is taught by Silas Hibbs. Hibbs is a business teacher at Hays High School, and he teaches two Emerging Technology classes.
“In my class I teach students how to use everything from using different types of robotics, building holograms, and working with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR),” Hibbs said, “We also take time and build and design personal computers (PC) from scratch, which is really cool.”
Students often like using virtual reality headsets that allow them to play different games along with exploring places around the world, while staying inside the classroom. These headsets can be used for other educational purposes like viewing models before printing on the 3-D printer.
“We have a couple Oculus Quest headsets that I see the students really enjoy using them. My class also has drones and robotics that really help students engage in my class,” Hibbs said, “In my class, we use 3-D printing to allow students see their creations come to life.”
Students also learn how to use different online tools on their computers. They learn how to utilize Office 365, Adobe, and Google Workplace, which other classes in the Business department and across the school use. Learning how to operate these tools properly allows them to prepare for future work if they do not plan to get a degree out of high school. If they do, then they know how to use those programs in college.
“Learning these tools help students develop a critical thinking mindset, along with problem solving skills and teamwork framework,” Hibbs said.
With technology becoming more crucial within the classroom, there can be many positives and negatives. Technology allows teachers and students to make work more accessible if you are sick or absent, but often electronics feature different technological difficulties. The Wi-Fi may not work, or it is difficult to learn how to use new electronics. But overall, despite all the difficulties, technology has become a pivotal tool in modern classrooms.
“I definitely see technology continuing to be a bigger part of education,” Hibbs said, “Chat GPT is a great example of this because it can help students in their learning, but it will never replace, in my opinion, the human element of learning.”
AI [Artificial Intelligence] is something new that schools are trying to grapple with because often it can be used to cheat. But, if used properly it can be a great tool to shorten reading texts to make it more understandable, or even help write some of Hibbs’ lesson plans to save himself lots of time.
“I think technology, if used in the right way, is a very efficient and valuable tool that helps people learn and grow at a faster rate than they would have years ago,” Hibbs said.
